Atkore To Pay $136.5M To Settle PVC Pipe Antitrust Claims

By Celeste Bott

Atkore Inc. has struck two deals to end claims against it in sprawling litigation accusing polyvinyl chloride pipe producers of conspiring to fix prices, agreeing to pay $72.5 million to a class of direct purchasers and another $64 million to another class of buyers.

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Intel Slams Investors' 'Deeply Misguided' AI Ad Tech Claims

By Celeste Bott

Intel is urging an Illinois state court to toss more than 200 investors' "deeply misguided" claims that the tech giant and one of its executives duped them into buying artificially intelligent targeted-advertising technology, saying their allegations fall "far short" of what is required to pursue a valid fraud claim.

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Analysis

3 Federal Circuit Clashes To Watch In May

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit's May argument slate includes appeals of invalidity decisions and sanctions tied to VLSI Technology's multibillion-dollar chip patent dispute with Intel, as well as Amazon's challenge to a cloud storage patent verdict against it for over half a billion dollars.

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Bausch Balks At Suspected Tweak In Price-Fixing Deals

By Brian Steele

A stipulation between state attorneys general and private plaintiffs suing generic-drug makers for alleged price-fixing seems to reflect a change in the states' earlier deal to release claims against Bausch entities, the companies said in asking a Connecticut federal judge to maintain the status quo.

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Kemper Catches More Legal Heat Over Data Hack

By Lauraann Wood

Kemper Corp. has been hit with more proposed class data privacy claims from customers who say the insurance giant's "egregiously inadequate" data security protocols allowed unauthorized hackers to obtain more than 13 million private records and post them for sale on the dark web.

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Improving Well-Being In Law, 10 Years After Landmark Study

An important 2016 study revealed significant substance abuse and mental health issues among lawyers, and while the findings helped normalize the conversation around these topics, a decade later, structural change is still needed, says Denise Robinson at PLI.

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How They Won It

How Sullivan & Cromwell Won An $18B 'Bet The Country' Case

By Chris Villani

It is not often that a Second Circuit ruling is hailed as "the greatest legal achievement in national history" by a country's president, but that's what happened after a team from Sullivan & Cromwell LLP persuaded the appellate panel to nix an $18 billion judgment against Argentina.

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Jones Day Beats Sanctions Bid In $2M Fee Dispute

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois state judge has ruled that Jones Day can pursue punitive damages on several of its claims in a lawsuit alleging a former client made a series of unlawful transactions to avoid paying over $2 million in legal fees, and also denied sanctions sought by the ex-client against the firm.

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'Grotesquely Bloated,' Google Judge Rips Consumers' Fee Bid

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge said Thursday he would likely give final approval to Google's $700 million antitrust deal with states and consumers, but blasted the accompanying request for $85 million in attorney fees, calling the 100,000 hours the consumers' counsel said they spent on the case "grotesquely bloated."

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'Christian Witch' Says Jenner & Block Must Face Vax Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

A former Jenner & Block LLP employee told an Illinois federal judge that she didn't need to disclose that she's a "Christian witch" in order to seek an exemption to the law firm's COVID-19 vaccine requirement, urging the court to reject her ex-employer's bid to toss the case.

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Senate Advances Mont. Judge Pick Rated Unqualified By ABA

By Courtney Bublé

A judicial nominee for the District of Montana who was the only nominee of the second Trump administration so far to receive a "not qualified" rating from the American Bar Association advanced out of committee on Thursday.

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Judge Denies Push To Stop Closed Immigration Hearings

By Tom Lotshaw

A D.C. federal judge denied a Minnesota human rights organization's request to block immigration judges from restricting public and press access to proceedings, ruling that it failed to show an immediate threat of future harm from unlawful hearing closures.

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J&J Says Ill. Ruling Backs Beasley Allen's DQ From Talc Suits

By George Woolston

Johnson & Johnson told a New Jersey federal court that a recent ruling in Illinois backs the Beasley Allen Law Firm's disqualification from multidistrict litigation over its talcum powder.

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LSC Decries House Subcommittee's Proposed Budget Cut

By Marco Poggio

The nation's largest funder of civil legal aid condemned a House appropriations proposal to slash its budget for fiscal year 2027 by more than half, warning Thursday the reduction could leave nearly 3 million Americans without help for critical civil legal problems.

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Ex-Husch Blackwell Partner Urges Discovery In ERISA Dispute

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

A former Husch Blackwell LLP partner has urged a Missouri federal court to ignore the firm's request for summary judgment in a dispute over employee retirement benefits, arguing discovery should proceed in the proposed class action.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

A pair of door manufacturers ended a landmark private merger challenge, state enforcers are gearing up for a potential Live Nation breakup bid following a crucial jury win, and a separate group of states and DirecTV are challenging Nexstar's $6.2 billion deal for rival broadcaster Tegna.

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Hub Hires: Weil Gotshal, Reed Smith, Morgan Lewis

By Chris Villani

April showers bring legal hires in Boston, with several attorneys on the move. Weil Gotshal snagged an international trade lawyer from Kirkland & Ellis, Morgan Lewis added an attorney from Hunton, and Reed Smith continued to expand its new Boston office.

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